


Heart of Glass

by TheHuskyDragon



Series: We’re all going forward/none of us are going back [3]
Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: Cats being cats, Cliff being a father/grandfather, Dialogue Heavy, Kinda, M/M, Pining, Plot, Whats it called when a character that honors a god but no one else does, cuz that’s higgs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:01:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21640897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHuskyDragon/pseuds/TheHuskyDragon
Summary: “Now, Sam, who’s this friend you wanted me to see—?”Lou giggles.
Relationships: Sam Porter Bridges & Clifford Unger, Sam Porter Bridges & Deadman, Sam Porter Bridges/Higgs Monaghan
Series: We’re all going forward/none of us are going back [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551493
Comments: 4
Kudos: 182





	Heart of Glass

**Author's Note:**

> Not much to say about this chapter, other than if cliffs lines seem stiff, that’s entirely my fault bc fuck if I know how to write a present loving father lmao
> 
> Also it’s tricky to write Higgs too, but that’s mainly because he isn’t in his normal position of power, so of course he acts different, but he’ll get his foot in at some point...
> 
> Title name from mini mansion’s cover, rating mature for previous and future themes

Sam opens the door to his private room with Lou in his arms. There are two things he notices. 

One; there’s spatters of tar on the ground, his bed, and on Higgs. 

Two; Higgs had scrambled to sit upright, looking sheepishly as he attempted to wipe off tar that had been on his face, only to smear it further. 

Before Sam could even _think_ of questioning him, Cliff had pushed his way through the doorway, saying “Now, Sam, who’s this friend you wanted me to see—?”

Lou giggles as she witnesses Sam’s hesitation. He was torn between asking where the _fuck_ the tar had come from, and attempting to introduce his father to Higgs. 

But Sam didn’t have to work his way through words, as Cliff works his way past Sam and claps a hand oh Higgs’ shoulder. Higgs still looks hilariously speechless as he jumps a foot high at the physical contact. _He doesn’t have aphenphosmphobia does he? Sam doubts it as he’s seen him initiate…_

“What’s your name, Sonny?”

“I’m— the name’s Higgs,” the taller man— _Higgs_ is _taller_ than _Cliff—_ tries desperately to not get any of Cliff’s clothes stained with the tar. Sam’s father doesn’t seem to care, as his fingertips were already dirtied. The following handshake was ruthless. 

Higgs seems frozen in place. Sam walks over. Lou tried her best to be apart of the scene. Cliff pats Higgs on his back so hard he nearly stumbles forward. Sam thinks he hears Higgs wheeze. Cliff gathers the child in his arms easily. 

Alas, as Lou is a baby with a simple mind, Sam takes her back almost immediately as she starts to whine. He wishes he was wearing her harness. 

“Higgs, this is Lou,” he says, lifting her up a bit. She babbles, spit dripping from her mouth. 

Higgs swallows before he speaks, “was she— she was in the pod, wasn’t she?”

Sam beams, “yeah, she got me through all that shit,” he huffs out a chuckle, “and through all _you’re_ shit.”

“It wasn’t _my_ fault you had to travel across America!”

The three share a laugh. Sam nearly mentions the various times that Higgs has attempted to kill or otherwise harm Sam. The main reason is Sam is _pretty fucking sure_ Cliff would show Higgs a taste of his previous medicine. 

He hopes Higgs has changed. Sure he’s a brat and a pain in his ass at best, but he seriously seems like he has changed for the better. And hell, he’s already connected what’s left of the UCA, so why not have Higgs along with them? He could always use a hand in porting. 

“You know Higgs,” Cliff starts, “Sam was a BB himself.”

Sam huffs, “ _yeah_ , after you go and fuckin killed the both of us,”

Higgs balks, “wait— what? _What_ happened?”

Cliff laughs as Higgs took the bait, “that’s right, just when the BB experiments started, I was tricked into having Sam become a BB.” The pat that landing on Sam’s shoulder was significantly more gentle than the one Higgs received. “In our attempt to escape, long story short, we both got shot and died.”

“And that’s why you hate Die-Hardman? Cuz he shot you?” Sam offered, bouncing Lou in his arms gently. She babbles nonsensically. 

“Oh no, not _Die-Hardman_ , I hate _Amelie_ ,”

* * *

Higgs spoke up, “didn’t _she_ bring you back?” He tries to not have the words laced with venom. 

“Did she not bring _you_ back?”

_What was that supposed to mean?_

Cliff, in all his honor, seemed like the most gentle, yet, _will-not-hesitate-to-kill_ man Higgs has ever seen. He’s torn between wanting to be _his_ son and also staying _far fucking away from him_. 

Hell, his back still hurts from the walloping he’d given him. _Fuck_.

Also _what_ the holy hell?? Cliff is just— gonna drop that Sam was a BB like that? So _nonchalantly_ ? That’d make sense why Sam was so strung up in Bridges. Higgs is _fairly sure_ Sam hadn’t always worked for them…

But— Amelie really has more or less just disappeared. Higgs has tried time and time again to reach Her with no luck and he’s positive Sam has too…

Well, she’s still on her damn beach, disconnected from everyone else. Perhaps she’s watching down on them all, seeing how much of an embarrassment Higgs is. 

“Hey Sam,” Cliff’s voice brought Higgs to the present, “you said your friend here had high DOOMS right? Let’s see em kid,”

“Er— _had_ being the keyword here, without _Her_ I— can’t really—“

Though, as if feeling horribly forgotten, Mekal, the lion-inspired BT had jumped into— _into_ Cliff’s arms. 

Everyone freezes. 

Mekal looks at Higgs. _What about it?_

_That little shit!_ Just— disappearing and doing whatever the hell he wants! Higgs was barely able to wisp him away before Sam came back, and he does _this shit!_ Never in his life had he had such bratty BTs under his submission. Hah, like he has any control over Mekal. Higgs hopes his message of “ _I wish I never conjured you,_ ” makes its way into his empty head. 

He covers his face with a hand, cringes at the feel of tar. It’s all over Cliff ... for fucks…

“I’m sorry, I can’t seem to control this little pest,”

Higgs wasn’t able to take back the feline. He reaches to take him back, but Cliff angles himself away at the hip. Mekal flops on his back and plays with the dog tags that had jingled with the movement. 

_That little shit!_

Higgs clenches his hands. 

“This is impressive! And this is what you’re able to do out of Amelie's power?”

“I haven’t… gotten much of a chance to do much else… but yes. Though Mekal as a kitten is nothing of what I was able to do,”

Cliff gives a hearty chuckle at that, Higgs nearly didn't realize what he had said. His face flushes. “You name them? I hadn’t thought of naming my men… Lou does seem to take a likening to them…”

Sam butts in, “ _excuse me?_ You let your fucking _skeletal army_ near my child!?”

The elder man huffs dismissively, “Four is hardly an army; they won’t hurt her, and I only use them when I nap and you’re porting.”

Higgs thinks about how if he were to cuss around daddy or his bitch of an uncle, he’d be beaten black and blue. 

Then he thinks about how _different_ Cliff is from them. How much different would he have turned out with a father, or even uncle like Cliff? Someone who _cared_ about him?

Cliff is still rocking Mekal in his arms like _he_ was once a BB when he announces he has “ _important Father Business”_ to attend to and makes his way out the door. 

Higgs huffs and plants his ass onto the cot. He suddenly feels exhausted, even though he’d just talked. Mekal, having jumped out of Cliff’s arms before he left, pawed at the fabric of his pants. He hopes having Mekal constantly our like this isn’t going to drain his energy. He doesn’t think he could take something like that. 

“Great job on the cat, Higgs,” Sam said nearly sarcastically. 

“You _told_ me to work on my DOOMS, _Sammy_ ,”

The words are out of his mouth before he could realize. Higgs regrets them immediately; he didn’t mean the comment to be as snarky as it was. His breath caught in his throat as he stares into Sam’s mirroring, surprised face. He can't just go saying things like that, not when Sam is all he has. Oh god...

“ _There_ you are,” Sam says. 

“Wha…?” Higgs croaks. 

“You’ve barely been acting like your damn self this entire time. Meeting new people too much of a challenge, _pizza boy?_ ”

Higgs, he— he doesn’t _not squeal_ at the verbal jab. He doesn’t know _what_ noise it was but it was _not_ a squeal. He very much wishes he could teleport away. He’s sure of the bold blush across his pale skin. 

Sam sits next to him. _A healthy four inches between them._ Even a year after the death stranding, his old habits haven’t died yet. 

He keeps Lou upward as she leans toward Higgs. The taller man knows _bat fucking shit_ about taking care of a child, so he disguises his conundrum as his hands being too dirty. While Sam keeps her in place, Lou continues to open and close her little hands and babbles. _So tiny…_

Sam reaches over with his free hand and swabs a smear of tar with his thumb off Higgs face. “You got that shit all over your damn face.” Sam says. Before he can retract his hand, however, Higgs takes it in his own, and inserts the digit into his mouth to lick the fluid off. He winks. 

Sam cusses. Then sighs. 

“We can’t in front of Lou,”

Higgs frowns, letting Sam’s hand drop. With the heel of his hand, Sam attempts to clean more of his face off. He doesn’t try to lick any more. He tries very hard not to get pissed at a _literal_ baby. 

“Was it really fine I made my lion?”

“That’s what you call that thing?” Sam immediately says, “but it’s really no big deal. At least to me. I don’t know how the fuck it will react with anyone else, but if I could keep this damn room clean, that’d be nice.” Sam is _not_ angry, Higgs knows… Sam motions towards splatters on the bedsheets. The mess had been made when Higgs desperately tried to have any control over the BT. Turns out something made of antimatter and tar is hard to hold onto. 

Speak of the devil, sitting still, Higgs can see his form — while his body is a vague approximation of a lion cub, the mask is bold, some aimless symmetrical design, various holes that probably had eyes in them— paw harmlessly at the cryptobiotes. He’s not convinced Sam doesn’t hate him. 

Sam doesn’t _have_ to like _every damn thing_ he does… but he’s also currently the only thing to guarantee a shelter and a job… if he keeps fucking up like this...

* * *

“Higgs,” Sam calls, shaking the taller man awake. When had he fallen asleep? “Deadman make some cuffs for you, he wants to to try em on. Let’s go,”

...So they’re actually serious about letting him join Bridges? In no way is Higgs complaining, but he really wonders how long it’ll take for them to change their mind. 

He rubs the sleep from his eyes, and really only manages to smear the blackness around them. 

“Ah shit. _Seriously_?” He goes to the sink and tries to wash it off as fast as possible. 

With his face feeling horribly naked, and feeling generally nervous, Higgs follows Sam towards their destination. It seems to be one of the rooms that Deadman uses for his various… crafts. Even though Higgs could have _sworn_ he was a doctor, he seems gifted in being Bridges’ little toy-making elf. He turns around with a predicted “Sam!” And holds up a pair of cuffs. The thinner cuff is gilded with chiral crystals, forming a sharp blade. 

Wordlessly, Deadman flicks his wrist, his own cuffs jingling, and the free pair pop open in his grip. Deadman gives them to Higgs. 

Higgs swallows. He barely knows how these things work; what if everyone in Bridges sees that he’s part of the company? What if _Fragile_ sees? Higgs knows he _has_ to stay away from her or god knows what…

He shrugs and clicks the thicker cuff onto his wrist. Having only been half applied, nothing happens. He suddenly feels too hot in Sam’s borrowed undershirt. He thinks about how much has changed from his past porter days. 

He thumbs along the edge of the chiral blade; it’s really not that sharp…

“ _That’s_ for cutting the umbilical cord of BTs. Perhaps you won’t need it, but it’s better to be safe, eh?” Deadman explains. _That’s why there’s a chiral coat on the blade._ Wasn’t there something about long exposure to chiral matter…? Having the blade constantly pressed against his skin _couldn’t_ have been good. without replying, Higgs closes the last cuff. 

Immediately after powering up, the lights flicking through their color choices and settling on blue. There’s a nice chime that comes from the equipment. 

“Wonderful! It seems to be working; here, do this,” Deadman said. He turns his wrist towards himself and Higgs can see the UI appear in front of him. 

So he does the same. _Man_ , how fucking useful would this shit be when he was a porter, shit. The UI has a detailed map that, if he turns his wrist, he can see the height of the mountains and valleys. To the left, he can see his mail, what various connections he could have, and his orders. Of course, everything is empty. To the right, there’s a menu list of various places and the dangers they have— BTs, rough terrain, MULEs… 

There’s an entire highway, along with plenty of bridges and ladders and safe houses. Higgs hasn’t realize how… _vast_ America was, he’d forgotten, though he really hadn’t ever gotten a chance to explore… he was so used to _Her_ and the beach and _Sam_ , his world shrunken down. 

“Y’all will let me port?” Higgs asked, almost afraid of the answer. 

“Of course!” Deadman reassures. He slaps a hand on his arm, “we could always use more hands on deck! Though, perhaps be careful about taking Fragile Express orders, you _are_ listed with your name in the system.” The large man laughs like he’d made a joke. 

“How about you and Sam go deliver something easy, yes? Go test your cufflinks!” 

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr is Higgs-the-god
> 
> Drop some kudos and comments! I really enjoy writing this and I’m glad y’all like reading it high key lowkey, I wanna have like,,, the longest fic for these two dumbasses? I already have other chapters planned so...


End file.
